eLiSe kAtHeRiNe

Quote of the Day

2006-10-22T16:36:00.000-05:00

"If life was easy then that means the enemy has no reason to get to you because he's already got you, but if you're struggling and fighting it's a good sign that you're going farther with God and making the Devil super jealous!"

~Katie "The Ox" Russell~

Quote of the Day

2006-10-18T17:44:00.000-05:00

"You will never know if Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all that you have."
~Mother Teresa

Refiner of Silver

2006-10-18T13:17:00.000-05:00

"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

Malachi 3:3

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up! .He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it"

Quote of the Day

2006-09-13T23:42:00.000-05:00

"It pretty much smells like a cat just yawned in my face."

-Paul Taylor

2006-09-11T16:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday My Beautiful Friend!

2006-09-10T16:54:00.000-05:00

Made To Worship

Before the day

Before the light

Before the world revolved around the sun

God on high

Stepped down into time

And wrote the story of His love for everyone

He has filled our hearts with wonder

So that we always remember

You and I were made to worship

You and I are called to love

You and I are forgiven and free

You and I embrace surrender

You and I choose to believe

You and I will see who we were meant to be

All we are

And all we have

Is all a gift from God that we receive

Brought to life

We open up our eyes

To see the majesty and glory of the King

He has filled our hearts with wonder

So that we always remember

You and I were made to worship

You and I are called to love

You and I are forgiven and free

You and I embrace surrender

You and I choose to believe

You and I will see who we were meant to be

And even the rocks cry out

And even the Heavens shout

At the sound of His holy name

So let every voice sing out

And let every knee bow down

He is worthy of all our praise

by: Chris Tomlin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isn't it cool that by surrendering, we don't lose, but instead we gain our freedom?

All creation cries out to God and one day every knee will bow!

We were created to worship our King - Our Creator!

Quote of the Day

2006-09-10T16:49:00.000-05:00

"This is what the Devil did in my life...

HE ATE MY FREAKIN' SOUL!"

-Chad Trost

Chicago-Bound

2006-07-27T14:02:00.000-05:00

I'm getting ready to head to Chicago this weekend for a Joyce Meyer Conference and Hillsong is leading worship! I'm totally pumped! And it gets even better because I'm going with some really incredible girls! Katie, Jamie, Miranda, Mandi, and I will pile into the car at about 3am tonight so we can make it to the session tomorrow morning at 10.
For the past few weeks it seems like I have been in the driest desert spiritually. I'm in total need of my Savior to come and shower me with big fat portions of Himself. I'm thirsty! I just feel so empty and I'm still trying to pour out with nothing really to give. So, I'm expecting huge things this weekend. I think that's ok because we serve a huge God! I want the fire to be reignited in me and remember who my true love is.
God, please fill me! I need you desperately!
Please pray for us this weekend first of all that we would meet God in a new way. Second, please pray for our safety. None of us really know our way around Chicago, so it'll be an adventure. Plan on hearing a great report when we come back!

Quote of the Day

2006-07-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

"What's a root canal?"

~Jamie Brown

"It's when they...reroot...your...canal!"

~Miranda Barton

More Ranch Pictures

2006-07-08T15:29:00.000-05:00

The Ranch

2006-07-06T22:06:00.000-05:00

I just got back from my aunt and uncle's ranch near Kansas City a few days ago. My mom, dad, sister, and I went for about 5 days. It was a very nice break from work and my normal life really. That's a life very opposite of what I'm used to. Riding horses, four-wheeling, fishing, swimming in the lake, swimming on horses, scavenger hunt in the woods, just being outdoors all the time. I loved it! And it wasn't just any random ranch...I got to spend some quality time with my sister and cousins, Danielle and Morgan. Us four girls have always been close and even if we go months without seeing each other, we act like we've never been apart.
This vacation was definitely an adventure with lots of memories! Danielle had to climb a tree to get a lure out while we were attempting to fish. Long story, but after our motor getting clogged with seaweed and dying, Morgan losing a shoe, Lin dropping the fishing pole into the lake, me fighting with a tree, and Danielle almost falling out of the tree because the wind was blowing so hard, we finally got the lure. We were soaking wet, dirty, and had cuts all over us, but it was worth it! That wasn't the only near death experience either! I decided the next day to try to ride side-saddle on a horse while it was loping. Well, we turned the corner, she saw the barn and took off running. I almost couldn't stop the horse and about had to jump off, but somehow the horse stopped and I'm still living as far as I know. So many stories that I would love to tell, but pictures will probably explain a lot.

Glimpse of Eternity

2006-06-29T14:39:00.000-05:00

Broken, bleeding, hanging on a cross
You bled, you died, all for me
And you call out to me and to all of creation

Light has broken all the powers of dark
These are days of conquering
And I trust you, need you champion of my freedom

I sing to you
King who was crucified
And now lives again
Maker of Song
Perfect and Beautiful
With you I belong
And forever my heart will beat
With a glimpse of eternity
Sing over me

Given, promised is a place for me
Faithful, freeing is your love that has
Chosen my heart to unite with forever

I sing to you
King who was crucified
And now lives again
Maker of Song
Perfect and Beautiful
With you I belong
And forever my heart will beat
With a glimpse of eternity
Sing over me

You are the Christ
You're the Son of God who takes
All my sin, changing my world
Heaven's descent
Heaven's presence drawing me
To the cross where I'm free!

by: Jim Stern

Quote of the Day

2006-06-26T14:40:00.000-05:00

"There's like birds all around us...and bugs...We're like in NATURE!!"

~JEN DITTMANN~

May Mania

2006-05-23T17:06:00.000-05:00

May Mania in the Upper Room has been a blast so far! First Sports Night, then Eggstravaganza, Western Night, this week is 80's Night, and then the Grand Finale. Here are some fun pictures of the festivities and some really incredible people!

Quote of the Day

2006-05-14T17:04:00.000-05:00

"Happy Mother's Day!!!...We came from the womb!"

~Gina Crawford

Quote of the Day

2006-05-10T10:22:00.000-05:00

"You can't sneak up on an Indian."

-Mr. Ed Settles

Quote of the Day

2006-04-15T21:51:00.000-05:00

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA (uncontrollable laughter) ...okay well I thought it was funny."

-Josiah Serra

Book Study Girls

2006-04-11T19:25:00.000-05:00

This picture pretty much says it all. This group of girls is just amazing! They aren't like any normal group of friends...we truly are sisters in Christ! This past weekend was incredible!! For the past few months, we have been reading the book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. The book itself is great, but the time spent talking with and really getting into the hearts of all these girls is beyond words. God has shown us how beautiful and captivating each of us really is. We are the Zenith of Creation! He has created us to be exactly how He wants us to be and He wants to have personal and intimate relationships with us. We have revealed the lies that the Devil has been feeding us and gotten rid of them through encouragement, Scripture, and most importantly praying with faith! God has come in and healed the brokenness in our hearts and reminded us of who we really are. "He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds." Psalm 147:3

Sunday after church we had lunch together. Kristi made us some delicious spaghetti, bread, salad, meatballs, and cake! It really felt like a big family! For awhile we goofed off, danced and sang, and just had a blast together. We ate the amazing meal together all scrunched around one table. Lin said it best when she said that there was nowhere else she would rather be. We all agreed without a doubt! Then we dove into the book and were blessed once again by the encouragement of each other and covered in Jesus’ love for us. We watched a video called “The Father’s Love Letter” which was a letter written to us from God backed up completely by Scripture. Did you know that God loves you as much as He loves Jesus!?!? And that He dances over you covering you with His love?!

"The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."
Zephaniah 3:17

After the book study, we went to church for Upper Room Wonder Night! All you can eat ice cream with every possible topping, including jalapenos haha! We had so much fun playing kickball, having ice cream eating contests, and just being together with our youth group. It was hard to leave the weekend to come back to school this week, but I will see all of them again tomorrow!!

I love every one of them so much and each in different ways! God truly is dwelling in each girl’s heart and guiding her steps daily. Every person has allowed God to change them and mold them through experiences. He has brought us through and we are made new and alive. He has given each person the strengths (and weaknesses) that she has. It’s amazing that we all see characteristics in each other that we want to be like. That just shows how God has made us unique! It’s very evident that the love that we have for each other stems from the love the Father has given us and that we have for Him! He is the center of our lives and is our everything!

Quote of the Day

2006-04-04T09:15:00.000-05:00

"YOU'RE HOGGIN' UP ALL THE UGLY!"

-SEAN MULLINS

Quote of the Day

2006-03-15T15:22:00.000-06:00

"If you guys were on skates you'd be like...ICE SKATING!"

-Katie Russell

Quote of the Day

2006-03-12T14:31:00.000-06:00

"Have Jesus sit on your face!"

-Jen Dittmann

JEN!

2006-03-09T10:34:00.000-06:00

I had the privilege of spending the past 2 days with my gorgeous, Jesus-filled, sister in Christ! It still amazes me how blessed I am to have Jen in my life! The way the friendship began was completely God and since then He has been the center of it all. She has a heart of gold that is desiring everything that God has for her. The second I met her, I knew something was different. The love of Christ radiated out of her smile and poured out of every word she said. I was so sad when I had to leave Casa that night. We had barely said 2 words to each other! I could not have explained why I wanted to be around this total stranger, but I immediately knew that I had to be her friend. A piece of me was broken until a few months later we were able to meet up again at SCCC. AHHH!! God had his hand on our lives so that Jen and I could not only be friends, but part of His family.
We have a ton of fun together! We really are the biggest dorks in the entire world, but even more than that, I just love being around her and feeding off of the Jesus that is inside of her. Jen is sooo encouraging! She pushes me to be who God has created me to be and won't let me settle for anything less. She speaks words of truth and love. Sometimes I have to take a second look to make sure that I am not hearing words from Christ himself. Jen knows her Creator deeply and allows Him to speak through her. Her life is a testimony of God's grace and the love of the Father. She is selfless, caring deeply for whoever she is with. It blows my mind to watch her get into the lives of the girls in our youth group. She covers you with love and makes you feel like every word you say is important.
What a prayer warrior! As much as I sometimes try to hide the fact that I'm hurting, Jen always knows. And rather than immediately turning to her own thoughts and words, she just says, "Let's deal with this!" It is such a blessing to grab her hands and hold on as her words are carried straight to the Father on my behalf. I know that they are not her own words because I can feel as God speaks directly to my heart through her mouth. She is His vessel! Then after praying, she lets me share what's going on in my life. Somehow, she always seems to turn things around and I remember the faithfulness of God. He has never let us down and we will be victorious again!
Words really are meaningless! I can barely begin to describe how incredible this sister is that God has given me. Jen is an irreplaceable part of my life and I am so thankful for her! She is the Zenith of Creation! She is a treasure of Heaven and truly a trophy of God's grace!

SISSY'S

2006-03-07T12:00:00.000-06:00

GOOD MORNING BROTHER! HAVE A PHENOMENAL LUNCH!

Spring Break!

2006-03-06T15:31:00.000-06:00

Today began the much anticipated Spring Break and it feels wonderful! Last week I thought school was going to kill me, but I made it and now this week is going to be awesome! God's already working and I know He wants to do a mighty work in my life this week. Last night we had the Parachute Band concert at church. WOW! The presence of the Holy Spirit was undeniable! Tonight is Corporate Prayer and hopefully Pastor Thompson from India will be joining us.
I can't even begin to explain how much prayer is shaking up my world right now. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Luke 11:9-10 All you have to do is ask and God will answer. He may not always answer when or how you want Him to, but He will answer every time. Also, God wants to give you the desires of your heart. "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4 If you seek Him with everything you have, He will pour out so much blessing in your life, more than you can imagine!
Right now, I know that God is leading me in a new and exciting direction in my life. I'm not sure exactly what that is, actually I'm not sure at all. But, I am trusting that He will provide for me and reveal to me where my life is going. One thing that really hit me last night was that I need to be seeking God for God...not for what He is going to do in my life. I should be striving to know Him and His heart and character. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33 Seek Him above all and everything else will fall into place.
He also revealed to me that I am trying too hard to figure Him out. I am trying to tell God how I want my life to be rather than just waiting patiently for Him to lead me. Deadlines are approaching and so my human mind freaks out and says that I need to have everything under control right now. NO I DON'T!!! I have an Almighty God that has me firmly in His hand. He is the only one that needs to know and I just have to trust. He has always been faithful and never let me down, so why should I worry now? I need to sit back and watch as God moves. And in the meantime rather than trying to figure it all out, I can spend time drawing near to my Father who only wants the best for me!

Footprints - New Version

2006-03-02T13:07:00.000-06:00

Imagine you and the Lord Jesus are walking down the road together. For much of the way, the Lord's footprints go along steadily, consistently, rarely varying the pace.
But your footprints are a disorganized stream of zigzags, starts, stops, turnarounds, circles, departures, and returns.
For much of the way, it seems to go like this, but gradually your footprints come more in line with the Lord's, soon paralleling His consistently.
You and Jesus are walking as true friends!
This seems perfect, but then an interesting thing happens: Your footprints that once etched the sand next to Jesus' are now walking precisely in His steps.
Inside His larger footprints are your smaller ones, you and Jesus are becoming one.
This goes on for many miles, but gradually you notice another change. The footprints inside the large footprints seem to grow larger.
Eventually they disappear altogether. There is only one set of footprints. They have become one.
This goes on for a long time, but suddenly the second set of footprints is back. This time it seems even worse! Zigzags all over the place. Stops. Starts. Gashes in the sand. A variable mess of prints.
You are amazed and shocked.
Your dream ends. Now you pray:
"Lord, I understand the first scene, with zigzags and fits. I was a new Christian; I was just learning. But You walked on through the storm and helped me learn to walk with You."
"That is correct."
"And when the smaller footprints were inside of Yours, I was actually learning to walk in Your steps, following You very closely."
"Very good.. You have understood everything so far."
"When the smaller footprints grew and filled in Yours, I suppose that I was becoming like You in every way."
"Precisely."
"So, Lord, was there a regression or something? The footprints separated, and this time it was worse than at first."
There is a pause as the Lord answers, with a smile in His voice.
"You didn't know? It was then that we danced!"

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance." Ecclesiastes 3:1,4.

Quote of the Day

2006-02-17T23:53:00.000-06:00

"Elise, you are the thorn among roses." -Jen Dittmann

"Wait, isn't that backwards..." -Elise Mullins

Quote of the Day

2006-02-13T15:11:00.000-06:00

"Me llamo Pollo!"

-Chad Trost

Quote of the Day

2006-02-07T08:21:00.000-06:00

I've been given permission by the originator to start putting Quotes of the Day on my blog. One of these days I'll attempt to put into words how ridiculously blessed I am to have Jen in my life. It's just so hard to express on this computer screen the love of God I've experienced through her. Anyway, this first quote is credited to her...

"I know it's cold baby. It's ok."

-Jen Dittmann to her car

Math Lesson

2006-02-02T18:59:00.000-06:00

From a strictly mathematical viewpoint: What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been in situations where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 101%? What equals 100% in life? Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Then:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

and

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But,

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

AND, look how far the love of God will take you

L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that: While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Love of God that will put you over the top!

~We are God's children created uniquely in His image! He loves us just as much as He loves Jesus!!

Bittersweet

2006-01-28T22:34:00.000-06:00

What an insanely hard but incredible week! God's power is truly made perfect in our weakness! My grandma passed away a little over a week ago (January 19). It was bittersweet. It is so hard to see someone that you love go through intense pain and then die, but the fact that she is with the Almighty God causes me to rejoice to no end! During a time of grieving with my family (which I've learned is needed), God spoke to us and said that we should not worry or mourn - she was standing right next to Him. I can't even fathom that. It is beyond what my human mind can understand. Standing next to our Creator! AAH!
These past few weeks with my family has been wonderful. We needed each other so much during this time, and I'm so blessed to have the family I do. Meema started a legacy in our family and it is only going to continue. She has 6 grandchildren that are Spirit-filled and love the Lord above all else. We're ready to be the mighty warriors for Christ that He's called us to be! I got the privilege to speak at my grandma's funeral and share what Meema began in our family. What a blessing! She lived her last 23 days completely for the Lord. Her body and mind were sick, but her spirit was so alive, prepared at any moment to do the King's work. She would be sound asleep, but if someone she hadn't talked to would walk in the room, she would immediately wake up to bless them in Jesus' name. She has showed me how near to God I can be. He wants to be near us. He loves us! He is crazy about us! We were made in His image and are His children!
After experiencing the way my grandma lived her last weeks, I was inspired to change. I have had a tough week, but have loved every minute of it. I have enjoyed just being with God, learning to hear his voice more clearly. He wants every part of me and even though I don't deserve it, He gives back richly. I've been struggling with college and my roommate for most of the year. Thursday night, my roommate and I finally talked and I'm going to be switching rooms hopefully next week. It has been an ongoing battle with her. Thursday night I was prepared for her to come back and completely rip me apart - yell at me, insult me, whatever. But God told me..."I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love , and a sound-mind." That is exactly what I needed to hear. My roommate and I definitely needed to deal with some things. I had to stand firm for what I needed and believed in (power), but I had to do it out of love. The whole time I was waiting for her to come back, God kept reminding me that He was in control and that there was no reason to worry. What comfort!
So much more has happened this week, but I still need to let it all soak in. I am simply in awe of Christ!

My Battlefield

2006-01-10T21:22:00.000-06:00

Back to school and back to my battlefield! God has been preparing me - fitting me with His armor and now I have nothing left to do but fight. Lord strengthen me and give me boldness!
Ephesians 6:10-18 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests."
I was pretty nervous about coming back to school, but I know that I am supposed to be here. God definitely has a plan for me here at school, even though it is a tough environment. One thing God really pointed out to me on my drive back was that He has already prepared me. He has armed me and equipped me with what I need to win the war. I am ready for battle. BUT, I have to fight! I'm the one that has to choose to take what He's given me and use it for His kingdom. On one hand, I know that I am so ready to handle this semester. God has exciting things for me here. But on the other hand, this is so hard. I wish that I could run back and be surrounded by my Christian family and Christian friends all the time, but I can't. I love being surrounded by people that encourage me in Christ. But, I have a purpose here. Today has been especially tough. I have felt incredibly lonely and overwhelmed. This morning I woke up and cried. I couldn't even begin to think about fighting...I was having enough trouble just walking on to my battlefield, but I've been reminded by my awesome friend Jen about God's promises.
"You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry" Psalm 10:17
"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you...Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." James 4:7-10
I need to take hold of what God is telling me and remember who I am in Christ. I need to dig in and push through. Praise God for His unending love and presence and for the incredible people like Jen that He has given me that feed me Scripture, encourage me, and are there for me when things are tough. I'm off to battle!

Drawing Near

2006-01-06T14:39:00.000-06:00

The New Year began in the most wonderful way! When midnight hit and people everywhere were celebrating the New Year by watching the ball fall, drinking, partying it up with their friends or family, I was dwelling in the presence of the Most High God with 7 other leaders from our youth group. God has not been more real to me in a long time than He was that night. I felt Him, I heard Him, I saw how He was affecting the people around me. I didn't want to leave that place, and I don't have to really. It's my decision. God is always there just waiting for us to talk with Him and be with Him. Gosh, I am so selfish. He wants my everything and instead I go about my day, doing what I want to do, then when the day is almost over I open my Bible and give Him maybe an hour. He is changing my heart and my desires now and I am so grateful that He is so patient with me. I'm reading a book right now called Drawing Near by John Bevere. If you haven't ever read this book, you really should get on that. It is incredible! "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." James 4:8 I've settled way too often on just knowing God is there, but not really taking the time to become intimate with Him. I could go on and on about this book, but I'm just going to give you a little taste of it. Bevere emphasizes 3 key things throughout the book in order to develop a life of intimacy with God: Fearing God which requires obedience to God rather than to our own desires, Communication with God - understanding that prayer is a dialogue rather than a monologue (this itself just blows me away), and Desiring God's heart more than His blessings or what He can do for me.
God,
I want you. I need you every second of every day. I desire to be near you. Life's tough right now. I've hit my breaking point and I'm ashamed to say that I am running to you now when you were waiting for me all along. So, I'm sorry for being so selfish. But, thank you Lord for taking me back into your arms and reminding me of how much you love me. I am so unworthy! And God, I'll fail again. I know I will. You'll pick me up from this mess, straighten everything out and things will become great again. That's probably when I'll think I have it all together and choose to do things my own way again. I don't know why you do this over and over. Forgive me Lord. Change my heart O God! I'm yours. Take me, mold me into who you want me to be. You have big plans for me if I would just give it all to you. So, here I am Lord. I have a deep hunger for you. We hunger for what we feed on, so let me feed on you and keep that hunger burning. You are a God who is passionate about your relationship with me (Ex. 34:14). Thank you for being such an intimate God! I love you Father! Teach me to love you more than anything else.

Prayers Needed!

2005-12-28T17:23:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, we had to put my grandma in the hospital. My family and I were supposed to go to my aunt and uncle's ranch in Kansas City this week along with my grandparents. Saturday we got a call saying that my grandma was not going to be able to make the trip because she was in too much pain. WHAT?!? I didn't even know my grandma was this sick, but apparently she has been in severe pain for 6-8 weeks! My aunt and uncle and their family instead came to St. Louis on Monday so that we could all be together around Christmastime. God really worked a miracle Monday night, because my grandma felt good enough to sit in the living room with her family and have Christmas. We thought we might not be able to get Christmas in this year on my dad's side, but God gave us an amazing night together on Monday.
Tuesday morning, my aunt, grandpa, mom, and dad took my grandma to the hospital to figure out what was wrong. It turns out that she has cancer and it's very aggressive and widespread. Wow, I can't even believe this. It's so fast. We're not really sure of all the details, but it's not looking good. Last night it took something four times as strong as morphine to ease her pain. My prayer is that no matter what happens, my grandma will be pain free and have peace. She's been sick for longer than I've been born, and this just happens to be the worst of it. Please, please keep my grandma, grandpa and our family in your prayers. God can do anything, especially when believers are united in prayer.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Mullins Family Christmas

2005-12-26T15:23:00.000-06:00

I love love love my family and all the things we do at Christmas! We begin preparing our hearts for the Christmas season on December 1. For awhile my mom has given me, my brother, and sister a small gift everyday during December as well as some Scripture and a small lesson for the day. As we approach our Savior's birthday, we grow closer to Him and remember what Christmas is all about. After attending the service at church, Christmas Eve at our house began with the kids' choice of dinner, which happened to be lasagna, Rich and Charlie's salad, and bread (pretty much the same thing it's been the past few years). During dinner we make toasts with the bubbly (sparkling grape juice)...man it's so tasty. We toast to our Lord, our family, friends, dogs, whatever we feel like really. Then after cleaning up we put our pj's on and go into the living room to hear my dad read the Christmas Story from the family Bible. The kids get to open one gift from each other on Christmas Eve. We finish up the festivities by watching Claymation Christmas...if you've never seen it, then you're missing out. We put out our stockings and then attempt to go to bed. Idono what it is about Christmas, but none of us can sleep EVER! It's ridiculous really. One of my favorite things about Christmas Eve is that Lindsay and I push our beds together and put our dogs in our beds. When we were little, we shared a bed so we were always right next to each other during the Christmas Eve excitement. We've never been able to let that go, so we still stay up talking and giggling like little girls. My sister is so awesome! After what seems like an eternity, we are finally allowed to wake our parents up and go open presents. They wouldn't let us wake them up until 6:30 this year! We do the whole present thing and then mom fixes a huge breakfast, which was french toast this year. Christmas at our house is about the same every year, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's tradition!

Cape Girardeau Christmas Traditions

2005-12-25T16:23:00.000-06:00

I got back from Cape Girardeau yesterday and had a ton of fun as usual. We had Christmas with 38 people this year on Friday night. It seems to get bigger and bigger every year. I'll never get tired of Christmas on my mom's side because of all the traditions. And boy do we have traditions... This year we didn't get there early enough to take part in the baking of the yummies, but they were incredible as usual. We had a smorgasbord of sweets...fudge, sugar cookies, pecan cookies, peanut brittle, apricot roll-ups...my mouth is watering just thinking about it all. Of course we had a Christmas dinner but this year my grandpa changed things up a little. We actually dined on pizza and salad this year rather than the traditional meat, mashed potatoes, veggies, etc. It was still delicious and there were plenty of sides to fill everyone up. That's some good cookin'! After we finished eating, the cousins rushed to the basement to begin rehearsing for the annual Christmas Cousin Band. Our band consists of 4 flautists, 2 trumpets (1 was missing though), 1 alto saxophonist, 1 trombonist, 1 pianist, and 1 drummer ranging from 8th grade to freshmen in college. This was probably our 4th or 5th year performing for the rest of our family and we get better and better every year. This year we played Joy to the World, We 3 Kings, and Carol of the Bells. We learned the first 2 within a matter of 10 minutes which is pretty swift if I do say so myself. For Carol of the Bells, my brother Sean and I had arranged our own version for our jazz combo, so we tweaked it to fit our cousin band. This was the first time we didn't use music and it turned out pretty well. While we were downstairs practicing, I decided to be a little goofy during my solo and play all gutsy like. All my cousins were laughing and really enjoyed it, so they dared me to do it in front of my aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I couldn't turn down the challenge so I soloed with everything I had. I don't even remember anything I played but I was running my fingers like crazy over that saxophone...it was insanely fun! Then my grandpa read the Christmas Story from the Bible and presented a Bible to one of my cousins who is going to be a teenager this next year. I really like this idea. They present the Bible as a symbol of passing the torch of faith on to the next generation. Next we sang Christmas Carols like we do every year. It is amazing how musical my family is. I stopped singing and just listened...WOW!!! We could seriously make a CD. Idono how so many people can make so many different harmonies sound so good. It's unbelievable! Ever since we were little, the girl cousins around my age have always done actions to the 12 Days of Christmas. We're getting older now, but it's still just as much fun. For each "day of Christmas" we have a different motion that just makes everyone crack up...especially 6 geese a laying. You could only imagine! We made each other promise that we would keep doing the actions no matter how old we got. Whenever we get married, our husbands will probably think we are pretty weird, but I couldn't not do that song with my cousins. Such good memories... Time for presents!!! We sorted out the thousands of presents under the tree, then the younger kids got to open first, followed by the older kids. There's too many people for everyone to give everyone presents so we just draw names around Thanksgiving to see who we should get presents for. After all those presents are opened, the adults (around age 16 and up) play a gift exchange game...Chinese Auction. Everyone brings a gift to put in the middle...some are humorous such as a Hillbilly Briefcase made out of underwear, and some are really nice. In this game, you can either open a new present from the pile or you can choose to steal from someone else who has a present already. We had 24 people playing and I happened to draw number 24 so by the time it got to my turn I could pick pretty much any present I wanted, as long as it hadn't been stolen 3 times already. I ended up with 3 awesome Christian CD's. The rest of the night consisted of eating, mingling with people we hadn't seen in awhile, the usual family stuff... 3 families, including mine, came from out of town so we stayed at my grandparents...as well as my aunt Sarah. A total of 18 people in one house! There are 2 girls in each family and I have soooo much fun with these girls. We played games and just had a blast as if we see each other every day. Time doesn't change how close we are. Saturday before we left, us 6 girls and Sarah went to Panera Bread for some mochas. We snapped some funny pictures and had a wonderful time together. We are such good friends and make such good memories every year that I just can't wait until next Christmas!

Home!

2005-12-19T21:05:00.000-06:00

I made it through my first semester of college! I finished up finals last week and now i'm home for 3 weeks!!! It's so nice to be able to sleep in my own bed without people running around outside being loud or random people coming into my room. I never really appreciated the smell of home until I left. There's just something about home that makes you feel good about yourself. And homemade food! It doesn't get much better than that.
I'm so blessed to have such an awesome family! I have been brought up knowing Christ personally. I've always taken that for granted and I'm just now realizing how lucky I've been to have a family that loves God so much. I'm really looking forward to spending time with each person individually over Christmas break and getting back into their lives. This weekend was just the beginning of what's going to come in the next few weeks!
My aunt Sarah came to my house this weekend. She's a missionary in India and her life is just amazing, but that will have to be another blog. Anyway, our family decided about a month ago to pray over our home and Sarah wanted to be here for that which was a major blessing. We put stakes on the corners of our property with Scriptures on each of them and then anointed the perimeter with oil. We came inside and took communion, then just worshipped God and prayed together. Sarah read us some passages from the Bible that fit so well with what we needed. It was so nice to be with my family praying for each other and for our home. Nothing is our own and we want to serve God with everything He has given us.
"But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

My apologies

2005-11-30T16:12:00.000-06:00

I apologize to all of you who have been eagerly anticipating the start of my amazing blogsite, because it is going to be ridiculously amazing. However, this whole college thing has kind of been taking priority. A week and a half left until finals and I only have to give 2 speeches, write 4 papers, and take an exam! Not too shabby! Finals will probably be a relief which seems a little backward. But, after that, I will succumb to the blogging addiction and you will find out more about me than you will probably want to know. But, until then, I suppose I shall have to keep you waiting with bated breath.